Kitsch Art anyone !!

Rajnikanth Magic

(on the streets of Madurai)

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Tribute to legend Rajkumar…

India is such a huge country with varied people and places. It takes some traveling to know how remarkably multiculture and variant this nation is. The more you travel more you realize it. Without sounding jingoist I have to admit that with all the short comings and problems this nation faces: India is absolutely incredible!!!. There are so many new things to see every time you travel. Things beautiful, things shocking, as for me this place has kept me in an excited state for more than a decade now and hopefully for many more years to come. Tell me how can it be not exciting to know that apart from food habits, language, dressings….they even have entirely new God you never heard of!!!. Every new place in every few kilometers has its own God and offcourse stories surrounding it. But yes the Gods do somewhere get associated with mainstream Hinduism, the trinity. I am told in Hinduism there are 33million gods and how did they got that number is still a mystery but offcourse quite conceivable!!. I am not surprised!!!!!!!.

In this milieu are also remarkable human beings who are treated almost like gods. Mr. Rajkumar was someone like that in Karnataka State. He was like MGR to Tamil Nadu and NTR to Andhra Pradesh. But unlike them he never got into politics although he could have easily. There was some discussion in media about South- North India and “culture” difference. Again the presiding deities in many of these channels have got it absolutely wrong. I wonder whether they really know anything about this country or is it high decibel performance, “competence” in front of camera!!. They like to classify people into some kind of manageable entity for their convenience at the expense of reality. Then they discuss, it is a joke. But then prejudices, clichés and stereotypes I am told are TRP busters….so flows the Ganges. Type Y for Yes and N for No. If you don’t then you are missing something big!!.

South India is not a monolith, it is too varied. It is not that simplistic. And there is more to India than North-South (more about it sometime later). Apart from being a popular actor Mr. Rajkumar was extremely good human being. Now this is not part of image creation as is the norm nowadays, infact he shunned media as much he could. But although each kannadiga was aware of his greatness not many people outside knew about him much (at least the common people in other part of the country came to know of him when he was kidnapped by Veerappan some years back. I myself came to know about him when he won the Dada Saheb Phalke award). He really was an icon here in Karnataka. One who had connected to millions of people in this prominent southern state, which speaks of him as more than an actor. He somewhere provided the pride for the place and its culture wherein people were increasingly getting alienated. A remarkable man indeed.

The shock expressed by people was spontaneous but the ensuing violence was uncalled for. It could also be “statement” against State abdicating its responsibility with increasing presence of Market forces and affluent "outsiders" as some socioligists are pointing out, but mob psychology is difficult to predict it always carry destructive elements. Within an hour of his death made public, tyres were burning every few km. and huge black smoke bellowed around the city.

Mobile phones helped people to know what the problem was, few frantic calls made and news spread. The city was suddenly still. Posters of Rajkumar came up in almost all street corners. It was quite a sight. Then the hooligans took over……things went from bad to worse. Vehicle owners started to paste posters on their vehicles just to save it. A very sad spectacle on the demise of a man who personified humbleness.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

Sometime back I was in Trivandrum and was walking around and saw this crowd at VJT hall. I came to know that it was for the shradhanjali to Devarajan Mashe and they were waiting for the body to arrive. Devarajan mashe was a legend in here and his songs were all-time favorites particularly with the elder generations. When they showed the songs of his in TV I could recall most of them. They were hummed around by elders when I was kid. Like for instance Ommanalle kandu njan….was so very popular. His devotional songs were I think more popular. And songs can really bring memories. I recollect a very funny incidence (atleast in retrospect it is funny). We were always supposed to have evening prayers every day (offcourse I rebelled out when was a teenager), it really was distressing at times when are you 6 or 7 and repeating all those names of gods and so on. Now what really happened was one (there were 7-8 taking more than hour) of the prayer we sang was pointed out by a family friend as a movie song (not exactly a song but a prayer in a movie), this was an innovation, being outside kerala. Now there was this predicament whether what is in movie could be used as prayer. Now that will be like singing film song in front of God!!!. A big no there. Some kind of blasphemy I guess. The whole prayer was dropped after ascertaining whether the movie took it from some religious scripture or whether it was creation of a songwriter, the later was found true!!. I am sure it must been a Devarajan Mashe creation. He was brilliant. My mother was seriously into Malayalam songs and since we were mostly outside kerala I recollect she used to spend substantial part of her afternoons to catch Malayalam songs in radio Ceylon. And like a true keralite she was an ardent admirer of Yesudas (off course MS was the first choice. Aint the day start with Suprabadham!!).

When I was watching the funeral of Rajkumar I was wondering is there anyone in Kerala who can be equated to him?. The same adulation, embedded in the collective psyche. Since most keralites are quite skeptic set of people, movie stars are out. EMS (whatever ideological difference one may have) comes to mind but among the living I think Yesudas does occupy the mind of people to a large extend. He is considered more than a singer. How he was not allowed into the temple (since he is a Christian…kerala temple is sometimes so obnoxiously different from other parts, more about it sometime later) and he later sang the song guruvayoor ambala nadayil…all that is etched in the minds of people. It adds on to his enigma. His hindi movie songs were listened to just because it was Yesudas sung, offcourse he had a more than a decent success in hindi!!. His concerts of Carnatic music(katchery) as well as light music are always house full. I was reading an essay by Suresh Menon on Yesudas recently titled The Voice he writes: “In Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust has his hero’s memories flooding back to him on tasting a kind of cake with his coffee. The smell, the taste, brought it all back. For Malayalis the world over, a Yesudas song does the same thing……he has provided the glimpse of divinity. To paraphrase Goethe, when the mind is at sea, an old song provides a raft.”

And most Yesudas songs of Devarajan Mashe were brilliant. May his soul rest in peace.

On kerala elections....

Kerala political scene is divided into two fronts one led by Congress referred to as UDF, which is now ruling and another by Communists led by CPM is LDF. Since a miniscule shift can be decisive there are many splinter groups- its part of kerala folklore that these parties have used up all the alphabets in the language! These small interest groups have been playing havoc in kerala politics to the detriment of the people for few decades now. Recently there have been rise of caste based groups also albeit with very negligible impact on mainstream politics although the media gives them undue importance. Sometimes the media can really be irresponsible. So now before and after the elections the Gods (moonlighting as psephologists) in the media will enlighten us on how caste and religion voted. These fools actually think people have no other issue to deal. How much they compliment (and fuel) the caste and communal politics need be studied. The beautiful thing which has happened in this election is that some influential religious leaders particularly of Christians and Muslims have called for the voters to exercise their Rights following their conscience. Cheers to that. The local needs and aspirations of the people for better standards of living will be met I hope.

The present Government in kerala barring few issues have done well and people do have huge respect for Oomman Chandy. Infact he is rated as one of the best Chief Minister in recent times. But the coterie ridden and scheming politicians who are out of touch with reality have spoiled it. Including the DICK father-son duo into UDF actually was a serious mistake. I was in Kerala few weeks back and I have heard many people praising Mr. Chandy, at that time there was talks going on whether DICK father son scoundrels should be included in UDF or not. And as most of us know keralaites speak politics a lot ( such is the case that hotels in small towns have even boards asking: no political talks!). I heard many people saying if DICK is back in UDF they will not vote Congress. So UDF is in serious trouble of its own making.

UDF is not isolated in this even the comrades in LDF particularly CPM knows some tricks on hara-kiri. The earlier decision on not to allow Mr. Achuthanadan to contest was shocking to most people. You could hear almost every other person saying: che sheri ayila (not a right thing to do)….in bus, train… I remember an auto rickshaw driver asking me why do you think they are committing this mistake. He is a very popular leader. Rightly so. I remember listening to his speech in Alapuzha town where I was roaming around almost a decade back and I thought he made lots of sense. I recollect he was talking about coir workers and other very important issues dealing with the place. I liked him very much. It is therefore shocking that CPM is so very out of touch with reality. There are certain interest groups in this party who seems to be going to any extend to be in power. How can you explain the ridiculous decision of even considering DIC(K) duo to be allowed to LDF? This has offcourse seriously eroded their image. If the LDF doesn’t weed out these viruses from its system then this Front will only plummet. Don’t take people for granted. Atleast not keralites. Further the left government have not been too sensitive to the issues of Tribals in the past. It also need be pointed out that it was the Communist Government that allowed CocaPepsi to set up their exploitative product shop, we can accept the argument that enormity of the misery it will create might not been aware. It is very sad considering that this party has a long history of taking up the issues which matters to the people most. There are many people in the older generation who still are very committed to this party almost in a romantic sense, sometimes out of touch with changing reality but then some ideas are eternal . This doesn’t mean that new government don’t allow genuine, sustainable development to take place and ensure employment opportunities to its young population who almost always have to leave home to far of places.

One wonders what kind of people have sneaked into this Party with such an incredible past. I am sure people in this part of the world will be aware of dreaded Attimarikar, which has since been stopped. So sometime it can really go into the hands of local thugs. So now thugs are at the policy making section it seems. Pinarayi Vijayan who was very excited about involving DIC(K) in Left front had this to say when asked about the corrupt background of Karunakaran : “We don’t go by History that is not communism….”. Yes comrade historical dialectics with no History! Such greed for power this man. Shame. It is people like him who feed scoundrels like Karunakaran and let them thrive. It is people like him who create a culture of tolerating and encouraging corruption. It was shocking when Eshwara Iyer (father of Rajan ) expired recently, Karunakaran humiliated him. This mad animal (that is what he is. At the age of 88 that is an achievement!!) is so blatantly promoting his son, who is equally uncouth. Rajan case is so etched in the minds of people of Kerala that it will remain in collective psyche for long time to come. My condolence to Eshwara Iyer’s family. May his soul rest in peace. Power hunger shouldn’t make likes of Pinarayi to assume people of kerala for fools. The audacity for neek pok. We need to blame ourselves for having people like Karunakaran as "leader". No wonder Ooman Chandy government’s many achievements have now been relegated. The UDF is on its way out no doubt but the people are also very apprehensive about LDF (particularly CPM) with back stage maneuverings. Many people even think they are being encouraged by the mafia. God save us from likes of neek pok Vijayan.

Talking of age most people contesting elections are 60 plus! Infact some are even 80 + like Achuthanandan and Gowriamma (who still is as fiery!!!. Her base seems to have eroded in recent times. But then, she is the longest serving legislator in the State. Quite an achievment). That I guess does reflect on kerala demography like Japan and European countries, majority of people here are over 60+. Unlike metros where there is no significant presence of elderly in public places in kerala they do play major role and are quite active with strong views. Like Achuthanandan who still has a level of passion in his speech and lifestyle which is amazing. I guess it has got to do with the place. The Ernakulam-kollam belt has always been politically very active. Many people sacrificed themselves during CP rule (stories of puzha turning red with blood) as also many other significant agitations (like punnapra). I remember when I was kid, on a kerala visit (part of my education was outside kerala) a young man of the neighborhood confronted me with a question: Boy you read Das Kapital?? ! I had no idea what he was talking about. He took me to the nearby reading room (in Kerala every few Km there will be reading room) and explained about muthalali-thozhilali stuff, which i could make no sense of. Later when I mentioned it to my elders they sternly told me not to talk to such people! Remember that incredible scene in Adoor's movie, Kathapurushan where the grandmother asks the caretaker what is a bourgeoisie, since the boy was beaten up in school for being a bourgeoisie. And he replies with that characteristic non chalance "a entho venda deenam ayirikum" (loosely translated means: must be some bad thing). I thought it was brilliant. At that time I used to think thozhilali means people who kick (thozhi meant kicking and followed by li)..…well it was the time when Bruce Lee was the ultimate hero. There were many instances of kids cracking their bones hitting bricks.

Before ending this piece one appreciate, not so insignificant contribution of comedians in TV channels, the people who do mimicry and have given some insight into how politicians work. Some of these guys are brilliant. I think this is typically a kerala phenomenon. Mimicry is taken earnestly in here and in college and school festivals this is seriously competed. Some of them do maintain very high standards.  There is a program in a TV channel: Munshi, running for years now. The duration is around 3 minutes (beat that one!!) but brings out what really kerala is. Supporter of different political parties and representing sect saying few liners on a contemporary issue like the one you see in teashop or street corner followed by an old saying by an elderly man which capsulate everything. Short and crisp this definitely is a program I can say of international standard and uniquely ethnic. Quite an achievement this one. Congrats.

ZK ko gussa kyon atha hai....

ZK is a man on a mission. His mission includes screaming in TV studios, an euphemism for discussion nowadays (you can even spot their jugular vein bulging, such admirable passion. So yell in ten seconds how to solve Kashmir problem??!!!. So asketh the god in a hurry. We have to go for a break and puhlease don’t go away !!). ZK’s concerns are understandable and we empathize. His attempts on striking a secularist cord with the viewers is also appreciated. Albeit he needn’t have worried since its part of legend that in contemporary India being a Muslim is in itself a justification on secularism!!. ZK quite rightly and justifiably so, rebukes the fundamentalist forces like Sangh parivar et al VHP,Bajrang Dal and so on. But he quite mysteriously is quiet about Shiv Sena- the zealots who live on divisive issues, froth hatred. A party with no great concern for principles. Its style is to take up a populist issue and dump it when it is no longer useful politically. Many of its campaigns are too simplistic and yielded results it never bargained for. Despite its avowed sons-of-the-soil policy (Marathi Manus looney tune), the Sena has unfailingly chosen non-Maharashtrians as its Rajya Sabha nominees, Chandrika Kenia, Mukesh Patel, Pritish Nandy (yes that scoundrel), Sanjay Nirupam (he is now a secular…its that easy to change…afterall we have only life!!). 
..
Right from early 60s they have been fomenting trouble. The initial victims were skilled labourers, primarily from the southern States, who came to Mumbai looking for jobs provided by new industries. They were branded as "lungi-wallas" and the businesses of South Indians were attacked ruthlessly. After the lungi-wallas, it was the turn of the Gujarati entrepreneur and more recently, it is the North Indian or `Bihari' migrant. It is ironical that during the Mumbai riots of 1992-93 the Sena allied itself with these communities to target Muslims. From ethnicity, the focus shifted suddenly to religion. If earlier it was anti south, in 90s it was vengeance on Muslims in Mumbai.In the communal clashes on the aftermath of babri masjid demolitions and Mumbai blasts, shiv sainiks were actively fueling and participating in riots (offcourse that doesn’t mean we negate the role of underworld-muslim fundamentalist nexus). They were responsible for killing and maiming many innocent people

Many Shiv Sena leaders who provoked riots have been named by the Srikrishna Report. The report findings, published in 1998 also indicted the shiv sena Chief Bal Thackeray for his fiery speeches and articles in Saamna (his party outhpiece) that provoked his party members to violence... The Commission also found that the Shiv Sena Supremo was directly involved in the riots by assisting in coordinating attacks on Muslims. Its part of great Indian law and machinery (as well as judicial system) that these killers are roaming free as is the case of any riots anywhere in India. That makes us a very responsible and great democracy. That’s another legend !!. The above ghastly photo...a reminder in case we forget.

The other day I came across these lines:

Let us honour the lost, the snatched, the relinquished,

those vanquished by glory, muted by shame.

Stand up in the silence they have left and listen:

those absent ones, unknown and unnamed—

remember their whispers fill the arena........... (Rita Dove)

So what does our man ZK do??. Well he wrote songs….so what’s wrong in that?. Being a (mediocre)  lyricist it is natural for him to react to the situations and empathize with the victims and disapprove violence. We have examples throughout human history of great poets, writers and thinkers protesting on what is understood as wrong and killing (massacring is a better word) is most heinous. But our man ZK aint the same breed. So what did he do for chris sake??. Well he wrote songs for shiv sena!!!. So cute!!. And his explanation was “I am trying to have a civilized dialogue”. Yah taken and I am Ashoka The Great. Who’s kidding!!.  Not surprising for this creed. It’s generally about one-upmanship within their circle. Consistency is off course a liability. Hypocrisy is diplomacy!!. Convenience instead of conviction is an easy way out. Some kind of predisposition for self delusion and self deception I guess. And because of pride, perception of reality is impossibility.

OK in case we take his hogwash. Do you try to have “civilized dialogue” by fawning miserable songs or bring out the issues, open debate and ask uncomfortable questions?. Balderdash of “civilized dialogue” is not something new. There have been instances where our melords in judiciary have tried to have “civilized dialogue” with rapists like for instance the coy not very subtle: Well rapist boy why don’t you marry her??. ZK might propose that since he is a lyricist, he can only do what he is good at (obsequiousness is purely coincidental)!!. Accepting this demented logic then why is our man so very repulsed with that UP minister Haji Muhammed Yaqoob Qureshi ( his claim to fame is for offering Rs 51 crore reward for the head of the Danish cartoonist) ?. Haji boy is doing what he is good at. He is another hypocrite politician good in making speeches. He is not a script writer or a lyricist like ZK. Its beyond me how ZK has the audacity to take such higher moral ground. When he criticized Pakistan for bomb blasts in Varanasi he spoke like some B grade irresponsible politician- blame it on Pakistan, wherein we never had any evidence, it was bit too early to speculate also most of the times it is a clever diversion from shoddy investigative machinery. My hunch is that ZK was working on his secular-muslim credential. In such worldview talking nonsense is never a second priority.

I cannot but feel sorry for this man. Such a pity. When an ex-M.P. Ahsan Jafri could be burned alive by the rioters in Gujarat it is clear fame, money or power will not save anyone particularly when you are a Muslim in Amchi mumbai. ZK knows it very well. Shiv Sainiks could decide its party time folks, anyday. And Dawood will not mind helping. So when gutsy Dilip Kumar, despite his age chose to fight back, our man chose to supplicant (keeping secular tag intact is where the action is!!). He chose to write songs for Marathi Manus…..MM jinga lala hoi hoi…is how the first line goes I am told and this they will sing next time they do killings or moral policing or calling Tendulkar or Asghar Ali green snakes!!. ZK can have a great future in kerala if he chose to, after all MM could even be Moustached Malayalaee or Malayalee Male (taking the cue from Geeta Doctor’s Sartorial splendour of malayalee male. Its an excellent essay). ZK despite his high decibel Salman Khan act in TV studios is quite a wimp. Collective Tch Tch for that. Bohuth nainsaafi hai. As someone rightly said: Men are more bribed by their loyalties and ambition than money. Sometime back I was reading Shiv Khera I liked this line in particular: Under pressure preferences become weak whereas conviction becomes stronger. Weak people can never be sincere and cowards like ZK shouldn’t preach morality.

This haiku by Yosa Buson for tolerating this write up !!!. Meditate on it. It’s incredible.

On a temple bell it has stopped,

and gone to sleep

-a butterfly